1. Field of Invention
The current invention relates generally to apparatus, systems and methods for computer networking. More particularly, the apparatus, systems and methods relate to connecting a mobile device to a computer network. Specifically, the apparatus, systems and methods provide for assisting a mobile device to quickly find a node to communicate within a network.
2. Description of Related Art
Many discovery techniques exist to find a node within a radio network. A common approach is to use an omni radio link. However to cover the maximum range (distance) with bursty discovery packets it is necessary to allocate substantial size weight and power (SWAP). A radio considered for such a purpose is Link 16. By contrast an Iridium SBD radio consumes a fraction of the SWAP of a discovery radio such as Link 16. An alternate set of discovery techniques utilize the directional links themselves for discovery. But for narrow beam systems, a very large number of tiles must be searched repeatedly on a regular basis, even if no one is there to link with. This results in substantial resources being wasted on the directional link. A need, therefore, exists for improved discovery and acquisition methods for use in directional networking.